Melky Cabrera testosterone plot thickens

BASEBALL Giants All-Star reportedly tried to fake evidence

Updated 11:17 pm, Sunday, August 19, 2012

Outfielder Melky Cabrera, who played for the Giants in 2012, received a 50-game suspenion that year for a violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

Outfielder Melky Cabrera, who played for the Giants in 2012, received a 50-game suspenion that year for a violation of Major League Baseball’s drug policy.

Photo: Hunter Martin / Getty Images

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Jeff Novitzky

Jeff Novitzky

Photo: Susan Walsh, Associated Press 2008

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San Francisco Giants center fielder Melky Cabrera (53) before a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Francisco, Friday, July 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

San Francisco Giants center fielder Melky Cabrera (53) before a baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers in San Francisco, Friday, July 27, 2012. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Photo: Jeff Chiu, Associated Press

Melky Cabrera testosterone plot thickens

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The Melky Cabrera drug saga took a bizarre turn Sunday when it was reported that he tried to trick Major League Baseball in a plot that backfired and prompted another federal investigation into the sport's link to performance-enhancing drugs.

A confidant of Cabrera's purchased a website as part of a scheme to fabricate evidence so the Giants' left fielder could try to duck out of his 50-game drug suspension, according to an account first reported by the New York Daily News.

But the cover-up bid crumbled, and now the matter is being investigated by federal authorities, including Jeff Novitzky, an investigative agent for the Food and Drug Administration - and the "steroid cop" and lead investigator in the Barry Bonds BALCO scandal.

The newspaper said Major League Baseball's Department of Investigation, while probing Cabrera's positive test for synthetic testosterone, discovered the plot, in which the associate paid $10,000 for the website in order to create false evidence and show that Cabrera took the testosterone unknowingly.

"There was a product they said caused this positive," the newspaper quoted a source familiar with the case as saying about Cabrera's scheme. "Baseball figured out the ruse pretty quickly."

MLB did not comment on the Daily News report, and an FDA spokeswoman did not return messages seeking comment. However, an official familiar with the probe who requested anonymity told The Chronicle on Sunday that the Daily News account was accurate.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy didn't comment directly on the report, but he did defend the Giants as innocent bystanders.

"We're all disappointed when you hear of any player who failed a drug test," Bochy said. "The facts are we do everything we can not to have anything like this happen. We don't allow anybody in the clubhouse without credentials. We don't allow supplements in the clubhouse. Let me ask you guys? What else can we do?

"You can be the best parent in the world. You can be world-class parents, and your kid can still go south. We can't follow these guys 24/7. It comes down to choices. He's a veteran, a grown man. Our training staff and our conditioning coaches raise awareness. This is an unfortunate thing. We'll continue to work on cleaning up baseball."

Bochy added, "Unfortunately, I do think they get bad advice from other sources."

Cabrera's associate is Juan Nunez, who works for Cabrera's agents, brothers Sam and Seth Levinson, according to the Daily News, which quoted Nunez as saying the Levinsons weren't involved.

The newspaper said Novitzky and MLB's investigative team are looking into Cabrera's entourage, including his agents and trainers, and where the player received the testosterone, which was detected in an in-season urine sample - before the All-Star Game, of which Cabrera was named MVP.

The purpose of Cabrera's alleged scheme, which started in July, was to fool MLB into thinking he used a supplement from the website that prompted the positive test. He would then try to invoke a clause in MLB's drug policy that allows a player to show he was not at fault for the positive test.

But unlike Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun, who tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone but escaped a 50-game suspension - due to suspicions on how Braun's urine sample was collected and handled - Cabrera didn't dodge the penalty. He was suspended Wednesday and said in a statement, "My positive test was the result of my use of a substance I should not have used."

The steroid cloud is back over the Giants, as it was when Bonds and several teammates were involved in the BALCO case and in 2010, when outfielder Jose Guillen was investigated for a shipment of human growth hormone sent to his home in his wife's name.

This year, MLB has suspended four players who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, and two are Giants. Aside from Cabrera, reliever Guillermo Mota was suspended 100 games (as a two-time offender) and is eligible to be reinstated Aug. 28.

Cabrera was suspended 50 games when the Giants had 45 regular-season games remaining. The other five are to be served in the postseason - if the Giants get to the playoffs and want the player back - or the beginning of next season should he be on a team's Opening Day roster.

A Chronicle poll asking, "Should the Giants say goodbye to Melky Cabrera?" - which was on sfgate.com before the Daily News story - elicited nearly 7,000 responses by 9 p.m. Sunday with 49 percent saying yes, 18 percent saying no and 33 percent saying wait until after the season to decide.

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